So, Why do we all hang out at the EVC?

Just thought I'd asks peoples reason for sticking around on these forums.Does anyone actually think either side will be convinced?Or, are you just here for kicks?Do you like the intelectual challenge?Enlightenment?Or, do you just like to fling mud?Id especially like to hear Brads reasons This message has been edited by Yaro, 07-27-2005 08:33 PM

I am here to learn, mostly...To learn more about a rising tide of Dark Ages mentality that frightens me even more than the resurgence of McCarthyism--a bully-mob mind that wants to make one gigantic Appeal to Consequence the law of the land.I want to know what makes willful ignorance and hatefulness cloak itself in robes and masquerade as virtue.I want to re-familiarize myself with developments in both evolutionary theory and Creationist cant, so that I can respond more effectively here and elsewhere.Besides, I think Brad is inspired. Some of the rest of you are okay, too.

I hang around for a variety of reasons:

• To learn from the knowledge available from the experts and interested amateurs who post here
• To be challenged into deep reflection by some of the opinions expressed on the "social" threads
• To be hugely amused by the nonsense the Biblical literalists come up with to try and line the Bible up with science
• To be hugely scared by the support for the ideas and goals of the Christian right some of the posters here show (I've found the sporadic discussions about the US moving towards a theocracy quite chilling)

---

Oops! Wrong Planet

The only place I have found that is no holds bar tell em like ya feel it. This message has been edited by 1.61803, 07-27-2005 10:29 PM

no. yes. maybe. i don't know. some of them, maybe.

I like the challenge of debate. It makes me analyze my beliefs more closely and consequently understand them better. I have a need for deep conversation that I can't find anyone to fulfill anywhere here in po dunk East Texas. And I suppose there's always that futile desire to win another person over to your way of seeing things.

I like it that the YECs actually have to support their positions with evidence. I also like reading all the political and social threads, even though I don't participate much.I've learned a lot since coming here. I'm not sure I've changed my position on much, but I definitely understand the 'other' side better.And of course there are certain posters I enjoy reading... and others I enjoy ignoring.

Court ordered community service

This message has been edited by Phatboy, 07-28-2005 01:10 AM

I think so to some extent, we have seen some folks change their mind. I have certainly changed my mind on various issues because of this forum. Mostly, ya. I like to watch people square off intellectualy, it's exciting, entertaining, and sometimes can be pretty funny. Yes Ya, I would say this forum has enlightend me in many ways. I have learned alot about science that I didn't previously know. Some threads that degenerated into flame wars were pretty darn entertaining. I can definetly say that JimSDA and the whole Wyatt thread was a laugh riot. I couldn't get enugh.This message has been edited by Yaro, 07-28-2005 08:44 AM

AdminAsgara confesses:

quote:

---

Court ordered community service

---

I should add that I appreciate the structured environment.

Keeping up with ev.vs.cre news and familiarizing myself with arguments from creationists and IDists so I debate them better on my own turf. [I have an Indonesian evolution-creationism yahoogroup]

I mostly like laughing at the loons.Every once in a while, someone will present an argument that forces me to think. Usually it is because the argument is so terribly bad that I have to take a lot of time to dissect it to understand why it is so bad.Occassionally someone will present an argument that is pretty good, and I am forced to do a little research and logical thinking to try to refute it.Also, sometimes someone posts something with which I agree, but in a better way than I could have put it, or from a view point that I had not thought of before.So, I guess the intellectual stimulation (quit laughing, guys!) is the main reason I post here.I will also say that when I was feeling out of place when I was in graduate school, this message board (and a couple of others) kept me feeling somewhat connected to something more than my text books.

I come here because people are so passionate. The subjects are important or fascinating to them and that makes their expression of it (however flawed it can be) extremely entertaining.I find I learn so many things that I had never really examined before coming here (again from both sides of the issue).The real juicy stuff I come back for, though, are the times when it's like watching a trainwreck of illogical and dogmatic thought colliding with logical and didactic thought. The fallout from this is too entertaining to turn away from.And then, every now and then, there's stuff like this that makes me cry from the happiness found in sheer absurdity. The kind you can only find when everyone and anyone has a voice and is allowed to share it with us all...http://EvC Forum: lion vs tigerorhttp://EvC Forum: THE SIGN OF THE BEAST - All the bears do use their right hand

---

"In Heaven, everything is fine."
The Lady in the Radiator
Eraserhead

I'm here for the intellectual stimulation. I like debating, I like being forced to do a little leg work to prove a point, and I like being forced to examine my own beliefs and motivations.I don't think I'll convince people to give up their faith and accept scientific theory. That's not what I'm here for.